Instagram for Business: Key Benefits, Features, and Metrics for Success

Instagram is no longer just a vehicle for PR and silly filters, but a truly dynamic business tool that can give your brand real-world visibility. In general, brands are utilizing Instagram to interact with users, publish content, and sell successfully through product, service, and brand value displays. Furthermore, it is a very good site to create an engaged community base and intimately relate to the intended consumer.

Personal vs. Business Account: Why you need a business account

Instagram offers two types of accounts: personal and business. As a brand, you’ll want to opt for a business account because it unlocks a variety of advanced features that a personal account doesn’t have. These features, for example, access to Instagram Insights, being able to upload advertising, including the option to put links in your stories, and the feature that allows for scheduling of posts. By harnessing these tools, you can maximize your Instagram strategy in terms of engagement, growth, and conversions.

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Key benefits of having an Instagram business account

Instagram business accounts come with a host of features that are designed to help businesses grow and reach their target audience more effectively.

Scheduled posts With a business account, you can schedule posts in advance, saving time and ensuring a consistent posting schedule. Using tools you can plan and automate your posts, ensuring your content reaches your audience at optimal times.
Upgraded profile Business accounts allow you to add additional contact details, such as an email address, phone number, and physical address, making it easier for customers to get in touch with you.
Instagram Shop If you are selling products, you can create an online shop directly in your profile. Customers can shop for your products in the app without leaving it.
Instagram Insights One of the most powerful tools for business accounts is Instagram Insights. This functionality offers audience engagement information about your content (i.e., impressions, reach, and interactions). Using this information, you can adapt your content and marketing approach to better cater to your audience.
Instagram Ads To expand your reach, you can run Instagram ads. When you have a business account, you have access to and can build, targeted Instagram advertising using Instagram’s advertising functionality. Instagram ads are made in Facebook’s ad manager so it is possible to target in a very specific manner the audiences, as a function of their behavior, interest, and demographic information.
Branded content tags Instagram’s Branded Content enables you to tag your products in posts so that your followers can click on the tags to access product information and make purchases. This feature is particularly useful for companies who would like to increase their sales through direct interaction on Instagram.
Quick replies A business account also gives you the option to set up Quick Replies—prewritten responses to common customer inquiries. This is a time-saver and increases the effectiveness of your customer service.
Link in Instagram stories Link on Instagram story If your Instablog account has more than 10,000 followers, then you are able to include a link to your Instablog in the Instagram Story so that a user is able to swipe up and land on your website or landing page.

Key Instagram performance metrics to track

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Tracking your results is crucial for measuring the success of your Instagram efforts, from hashtag strategies to Story posts. Employ Instagram Insights, the embedded analytics feature of the Instagram platform, to evaluate the performance of each post. Just “see insights” next to each post and check out your performance metrics. Monitoring these numbers will help inform your content strategy.

Here are some key metrics to watch in order to evaluate your Instagram performance:

1. Engagement rate:

The number of likes, shares, and comments your posts receive reveals how well your content resonates with your audience. Comments play a vital role in the early development of an Instagram following, e.g. Do not ignore the feedback that you get from your followers, and talk to them. This interaction is a great way to build relationships and boost your engagement rate.

2. Impressions:

This metric represents the total number of times your post or Story has been seen, even if it didn’t receive any likes or comments. Comparing your impressions to your expectations will help you understand how effective your content is at connecting with your target audience.

3. Follower growth:

The trend of changes in your follower count on a given time interval serves as an important measure of your Instagram activity. It’s easy to see how many new followers you’re gaining. Don’t stress if reaching the first 10k followers takes time—growth, in the beginning, can be slower, but it’s a steady process.

4. Click-throughs from bio link:

The tool in your bio is very useful in directing traffic to your website. Keep track of how many people are clicking on the bio link to get a sense of how interested your followers are in your products or services.

5. Trending hashtags:

To effectively extend the reach of your content, create a list of the most engaging hashtags. Posts tagged with popular hashtags can attract more interaction. You can track the performance of your hashtags by Instagram Insights. If trending hashtags aren’t boosting your impressions, consider adjusting your hashtag strategy or using a tool to generate hashtags for Instagram to discover new, relevant tags.

Conclusion

Instagram is an invaluable platform for e-businesses seeking to increase brand awareness, interact with their potential customers, and generate sales. Enabling access to such features, by making the switch to a business account, opens a suite of immensely powerful features including Instagram Insights, ads, and shopping, providing more effective and streamlined marketing.

Tracking important performance metrics (e.g., engagement rate, impressions, follower increase, bio link clickthrough rate) is vital for optimizing and sustaining growth. Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, leveraging Instagram’s tools can lead to significant opportunities for growth, customer loyalty, and increased sales.

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